Saturday, March 5, 2011

Mikey's Burger: NYC: LES

The Mikey in question being one of NYC's celebrity chefs, Michael Huynh, not to be confused with another NYC Asian celebrity chef with a difficult H- last name, Eddie Huang.

They both have pretty good senses of humor, and I like their food and inventiveness, so I'm not taking sides (there are sides).

You really ought to read this, in case you've ever wondered what foodies could possibly care about keeping up with:

"Just coming off the opening of his nightclub restaurant Baotique, restaurateurMichael 'Bao' Huynh has a new concept up his sleeve. He's partnering with Nicole Van Croft a Playboy Bunny who often hangs at Baotique and Covet, on a burger, fried chicken, and waffles concept on St. Mark's Place. Croft, who Bao says makes "the best southern style fried chicken and waffles" will be the culinary force behind the place, which will be located at 125 St. Mark's Pl. The tentative name is Bao & Buny.

But that's not all. He's also closed Viet-Mexican place Baorrito and is moving it to 111 St. Mark's Place, right next to Crif Dogs, and is turning the old Baorrito space into another branch of his LES burger joint Mikey's Burgers. DOB 111 is still set to reopen as Barbao at 115 St. Mark's (on the other side of Crif)." (From NYEater.com)

I ate at Mikey's Burger once, and I've been meaning to go back ever since, but it's a lot of food (I mean I could order less, but I wouldn't be able to).

I tried the Mikey's Burger, and it was a delicious burger, with clearly great quality meat on a potato bun.

Mikey's Burger ($5.50) and Fries ($3.50)

The fries were perfect: salty but not overly so, crispy on the outside and soft on the in. Terrific. On the counter, waiting there for your fries is good ol' Huy Fong Sriracha, bbq sauce, and spicy mayo. But really, don't order fries if you don't have someone to split them with. It's too much.

Vietnamese Coffee Shake ($5.50)

This shake was actually a bit disappointing because it tasted like just a regular coffee ice cream shake. I'm not sure whether they used condensed milk or not or what else might have been going on to earn the "Vietnamese" distinction, but I couldn't detect it. Had I not been in the thrall of what was for me then the newly discovered concept of Vietnamese coffee, I would've gotten the sesame or black sesame, which are probably awesome.